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TriMet is preparing to tackle three track improvement projects on a stretch of First Avenue in downtown Portland, in what will be its largest disruption to service in years.

Most affected will be riders of the red and blue lines, which run on the 30-year-old section of rail targeted for the rehab, though other light-rail travelers will see their routes 鈥渁djusted鈥� to accommodate those displaced riders.

From May 8 through 21, crews with TriMet and Stacy and Witbeck Inc. will replace switches and sections of curved track. Wooden ties below the street surface will be replaced with ones made of a modern composite material. Drains between the eastbound and westbound lines will be cleared and cleaned, and broken pavement and Belgian blocks along the route will be fixed or replaced.

Heavy civil specialist Stacy and Witbeck has performed maintenance work for TriMet since 2013, when it signed a five-year standing contract.

The work will cost approximately $2.1 million. Once it’s done, regular users will notice a smoother ride, spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said.

鈥淭he line was built in 1986 (and) is approaching the end of its serviceable life,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s just part of our regular maintenance 鈥� you just have to replace some of these areas because they get worn down by train traffic and auto traffic.鈥�

The work to be done is the kind that can’t be performed during the two hours per day of 鈥渘on-revenue service,鈥� said Sarah Touey, a TriMet project manager.

鈥淎 lot of the bigger projects that require a five- to six-hour window can’t be done then, so (we) have to wait until a project like this,鈥� she said.

With such a disruption in service, TriMet is focused now on a heavy public-relations push, Altstadt said. During the project, TriMet will have additional customer service representatives to field phone calls, and 鈥渞ide guides鈥� in official vests to be on hand to assist riders in person.

All MAX lines will run at reduced frequency of about every 20 minutes. TriMet expects trains to be especially crowded during regular commuting hours, and room for bikes limited.

Additional maintenance projects loom for TriMet. Switches and a signal system will be replaced at the Rose Quarter Transit Center from Aug. 21 to Sept. 3. And next year TriMet will install new rail and reconstruct the track bed at Southwest 11th Avenue in downtown, and make improvements to the Steel Bridge.

After San Diego’s trolley, the MAX was the second metropolitan light-rail system in the U.S. San Diego’s system is in the middle of a $660 million renewal project.

The MAX opened in 1986 after much wrangling with the federal government. The money for a planned highway project was redirected to help develop the MAX, which significantly altered Portland’s course, said Ethan Seltzer, professor of urban studies at Portland State University.

The MAX has proven popular with the public, and helped spur development. But challenges remain connecting buses to trains to homes, Seltzer said, and improving and increasing service.

鈥淚n a sense, our charge for using this system every day, 24-7 for over 30 years, is that for two weeks we have to disrupt service and repair spots desperately in need of maintenance. To me, that doesn’t seem like such a bad deal.鈥�